We
should pay special attention to the aspect of food. Food should not be
overcooked. For the elderly, we can make gruel and shred the vegetables in the
blender, since their teeth are not strong and they cannot chew hard food.
Children should also be served softer food, which is easier for them to digest.
We should treat others' children just like our own. But you can't be too
indulgent and spoil them; that's not right either. In general, we should
regulate our diet and eat with good hygiene.

We shouldn't
have so many different kinds of food everyday; it's too complicated. We can
change the fare from day to day, eating this kind today, and another kind
tomorrow. If we always give our stomach the same kind of food, it will soon get
tired of it. You can serve a different dish every day. But in one meal, one main
dish and one soup is enough; we don't need too many different dishes. If there
are many dishes, people will have false thoughts. When they get food, they
think, "Should I eat this kind? Or should I take that kind?" As they calculate,
they become greedy, thinking, "Why did they cook this dish?" So this causes
people to have false thoughts. But if there is only one main dish and one soup,
then whether you want it or not, that's all there is. You may vary the food from
day to day, but don't serve bread, rice, margarine, and a whole bunch of
different things all at once, because when I go look, I don't know what to eat.
As a result, all the joy is gone, because during the meal I'm calculating: this
tastes good and that doesn't taste good. So I'll get a lot of what tastes good,
and I won't eat what isn't delicious.

Cultivators! A
superior person seeks for the Way, and does not seek for food. We take food just
to sustain our lives and to keep from starving to death, and need not concern
ourselves with whether it tastes good or not. For instance, take the vegetables
we eat: today we have cabbage, tomorrow lettuce, and the next day we can see
which vegetable will spoil the fastest, and eat it first. Those which keep
longer can be eaten more slowly. The kitchen manager has to check the icebox
every day. It shouldn't be that the vegetables and fruit are spoiling and she
doesn't even know. Isn't that just harming people? The food was perfectly fine,
but if you wait until it rots to serve it, you're just creating offenses!

Spoiled food
should never be served, because it's unhealthy and it makes people sick.
"Sickness enters through the mouth, and disasters come out from the mouth." You
put no limit on food and drink, not knowing to eat in moderation. What is called
eating in moderation? When we cultivators eat, we should not stuff our bellies
full, especially if we eat once a day, it's a mistake to purposefully eat a lot.
If you do so, you're likely to get a stomachache, because you didn't restrain
your intake. Unrestrained eating soon leads to problems. So what should we do?
Eat food which is lighter, with less oil and salt. This is good for you. But
when there's a Dharma Assembly and people come from outside, we cannot cook such
bland food. We have to prepare delicious vegetarian food which people will like
to eat. You cannot say, "The rule at the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is
that we only eat food with no oil or salt." The City has no such rule, and I
haven't fixed anything. You must act according to the circumstances and people.

When only our
own cultivators are here, it's fine to eat bland food with no oil and salt. But
when visitors come, they cannot adjust to such a simple lifestyle, and it would
be unreasonable to expect them to. This is not to play up to people, but since
people from outside are used to tasty food, we cannot tell them to be just like
us. So when a Dharma Master came and improved the kitchen's operation, this was
very good. He wanted to cook good food to create affinities with others, and
cause people to bring forth the resolve for Bodhi after eating. In the past, I
also wanted to change some things, but since I did not go to the kitchen, the
changes were not made. Now that he's come here and wants to improve the food in
the kitchen, this is excellent.

But someone
actually said, "We follow the principle of not eating oil and salt here." That
was just too stupid. You people in charge of the kitchen should have some wisdom
and not be so inflexible, sticking to one path until you run into a dead-end.
Someone cane here wanting to do some good, yet you dare tell him this goes
against the principle of the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas! But what
principles does the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas have? There are
basically no principles here at all. You just don't know how to adapt to the
situation, and correct your usual mistakes. Accordingly, from now on, our diet
should be well-regulated, so everyone will eat well, and then be able to
cultivate the Way with vigor.

Also, our
practice of sitting at night is basically a joke. People who sit at night do not
plan to sleep, or if they do sleep, a little bit is enough. But those of us here
probably don't get enough sleep at night, so we doze off during the lecture,
doze off while reciting the Buddha's name, and doze even more while meditating.
This is not the way of a cultivator. A cultivator is vigorous at all times,
always in the spirit to work hard. He isn't so weak-willed and indecisive, just
mechanically following others.

This time, for
our Precept Ordination, we have invited Dharma Masters from mainland China and
Taiwan to conduct the Water-Land-Air Ceremony. The two shores have joined hands
in cooperation, for the first time in several decades. This is a bright
indication for the future of China. We should now show some concern for our
country, and work vigorously and bravely. Don't be so lazy! For the sake of
establishing the Way place, we should discipline ourselves, and not hang around
to eat and wait for death. You are completely irresponsible, so when the bottle
gets knocked over, you don't even bother to pick it up. This is being
irresponsible to the permanent dwelling, and to your master as well. Although
the master is compassionate, you who are disciples have to fulfill your duty.
You can't just follow the crowd: When others get up, I get up; when others do
something, I do it too; when others recite the Buddha's name, I just follow
along.

For instance,
when we went to the front gate to welcome Dharma Masters from the two shores
(mainland China and Taiwan), people could tell immediately that our hearts
weren't in it. There was no vitality at all, and the sound of our recitation
could hardly be heard. We seemed to be half-asleep. The Dharma instruments
barely made any sound either. On the way back, the sign shouldn't have been
taken down as soon as we passed the gate, as if the affair were finished.
Rather, after we pass the gate, the sign should be out front, raised up above
our heads on two poles held by two people. It shouldn't be at waist level. It
should be raised above our heads, up at the front, announcing that we are
welcoming So-and-so or Dharma Master So-and-so, so whoever wants to take a
photograph can do so. You people-I really don't know how you can be so foolish,
not knowing how to do anything right. Also, why was the sign in the tent
welcoming the Dharma Masters from mainland China and Taiwan taken down so soon?
There's plenty of room there; it can be hung on any of the four sides, and
needn't be in the central position. Why were you in such a rush to take it down?
The Ordination follows right after the Water-Land-Air Ceremony, and it's not
over yet! Why did you take it down so soon? This shows a lack of intelligence.
From what I see, in everything you do you are not even up to kids. The more you
do, the more you fall behind.

When we lined up
outside, neither men nor the women were organized. We should line up according
to height, with tall people standing next to tall people, the short people
standing next to short people, and the children standing together, too. But you
were all disordered, with tall and short mixed together. So today they called
you the soldiers of Buddhism, but you don't understand warfare. Think about the
army. I'm sure when they line up the tall ones are together and the short ones
are together, and they are very orderly. Although we usually rank ourselves by
the number of years we have held the precepts, and by age, when there's a
special event like the welcoming party, we have to be really neat, very full of
spirit, very energetic, with resonant voices which are neither too high nor too
low in pitch. And when you walk to Wonderful Words Hall, every evening, I hear
you walking, but your chanting of the Buddha's name fades away to silence. Just
what would you say you are doing here? If you aren't even willing to recite the
Buddha's name, what are you here for? Just eating till your full, and then being
chatterboxes, gossiping about rights and wrongs. I really don't dare to go along
with such behavior of yours.

Our clothes
should also be clean. Don't go for too long without washing them. Otherwise, no
matter whom you approach, he will be repelled by the stench of perspiration you
carry, and you end up creating offenses. Therefore, you must first take care of
the matters of clothing, food, and dwelling. To cultivate the Way, you must
first work on these. If you can't even take care of clothing, food, and dwelling
satisfactorily, how can you cultivate the Way? There are both internal and
external conditions for cultivating the Way. Externally, you have to wear
clothes, eat, and dwell according to the rules. You cannot be so careless and
sloppy everyday. If you constantly swing your arms to and fro while wearing a
robe, you are violating the awesome deportment. When left-home people walk, they
should put both hands in front of the chest. You must not walk as if you had
wings flapping back and forth-that's really unattractive. I've seen a lot of
shramanerikas who don't even understand this much. When I see them, I feel
really disappointed! Since they don't even understand this basic rule, they walk
around with their robes sweeping the ground. It's just like someone who used to
be here; she walked in circles, like a drunk. While everyone was
circumambulating the Buddha, she would always take a few steps left, then a few
steps right, never following the rules, always trying to manifest a special
style. I heard that a few years ago, a certain person was also criticized for
trying to act special, so now he doesn't dare to do that anymore. You should not
try to be conspicuous, making circles or staggering left and right when everyone
else is walking in a straight line, or dress sloppily, as if you had wings and
were about to fly away. I am still being polite. To put it impolitely, you look
as if you had a tail.

Time is up. We
cannot hold time back, nor tell the sun to stop turning. Everyone should take a
moment to think, "What kind of contribution have I made to the Way place? What
help have I given?" Living on this land, we should fulfill our share of
responsibility, and not just cross our arms and stand on the sidelines. Just see
how that Dharma Master pointed out our problems as soon as he got here. He said,
"When it's time to eat, everyone shows up. But when the meal is over, everyone
disappears." I don't know what burrow you all crawled into. Did you crawl into a
mouse hole, or into an ant's nest? I don't know! There's no way t find you.
Someone saw our problems as soon as he arrived. So how can we who live here feel
at ease? How ugly it is to be living here in such conditions!